


Parallel Universe

by jendavis



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-08
Updated: 2010-11-08
Packaged: 2017-10-13 03:30:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/132359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jendavis/pseuds/jendavis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rod's got some questions, once he gets back.  MENSA!John/Ronon</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parallel Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the events of ""McKay & Mrs. Miller"

Finally it was all said and done with. McKay and McKay and McKay, er, _Miller_ , had managed to figure out how to stop the end of the universe. It was chalked up as a win, even if it meant coming back to sit through the meeting that _would not end_ , not with Sheppard wanting to railroad him into yet another tangent on the exotic particle readings. Finally, though, Rod was released to go in search of something that resembled food.

Which didn't explain why he was following Sheppard back into the auxiliary lab to check out the latest modifications on the containment chamber.

"It's weird," Rod said, after a few moments of staring at the new layout of the HUD. I mean. This week. Everything was so." Sheppard had his head buried in the console again, so Rod let the words fall flat.

After a few moments, though, he realized that John had abandoned the console in favor of rifling through the stack of legal pads he'd insisted on requisitioning.

"I ran the numbers while you were gone," John said, producing one of the dog-eared notepads. McKay looked down to find the usual maze of scribbles, but frankly, he'd had a long day, and all he wanted was to go to bed. His _own_ bed.

"It was simple, really, hell, _Kavanaugh_ could do it. All you would have needed to do was collapse the bridge . A suitably large burst of energy was the easiest way, yeah, but if you would have used a _negative_ \- "

"Yes, well," Rod tried not to roll his eyes. "Let's just say that their Sheppard wasn't as _useful_ as you."

"Too busy trying to run the military while simultaneously taking over the science department through cunning use of chess tournaments?"

"Something like that," _only not at all_. "I did figure something out, though."

"What, on your own? You didn't drain their ZPM, did you?"

"No. I mean, maybe, but. I don't know. But that's not what I'm talking about. It's. The parallel, er. Us's. _Bizarro_ us. They were different, yeah, but there's just one thing I don't get."

"Recalibrating the sensors so the data stream doesn't get caught in the entropy and spit out gibberish?"

Go figure. Rod had traipsed through a tear in the fabric of reality, and John was worried about how the _equations_ turned out.

"Nothing like that. It's just." Rod glanced over his shoulder, confirming that they were alone in the jumper bay. "I mean, over there, almost everyone was different. Most of the time, it didn't make any sense. Nobody had any evil mustaches, or anything, but. You know Jeannie?"

"Uh."

"You met her last time we were on Earth."

"Um."

"My _sister_?"

"Um. Oh. Yeah. Wait. _she_ was there? Those numbers she ran for--"

"More to the point, she only has one kid. Just Madison, it's like she's three years behind."

John blinked, then looked at him, winding up for another lecture that he probably thought Rod actually needed. "Makes sense, given the-"

"You weren't in MENSA, for one," Rod cut him off at the pass. "And I was a hell of a lot more, well, brusque, rude. Whatever. Their Teyla has a more fluid sense of humor, but it seems that even the Athosian timeline previous to this week is different, and"

This time, it was John's turn to interrupt, and Rod really shouldn't have been surprised. "What about Ronon?"

"He was the same. One of the few things that made sense. Almost."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Rod didn't know how to put it. "In that parallel, at least, you and he aren't together."

An irritated expression crossed John's face, but it was soon goon. "Break up?"

"No. Just. Never started. But it's weird, right?"

"The infinite-"

"That's not what I mean. I mean, Bizarro Ronon and Bizarro John are just friends. But superficially, at least, they make a lot more sense together."

"What, you're saying we _don't_?"

"I'm saying. I don't know what I'm saying, actually," Rod said, and started flipping through John's equations, listening him bitch about trying to edit Zelenka's most recent paper on linear algebra.

\---

"You want to spar, or do you need another day off?" Ronon's voice came over the radio, far too early the next morning.

"I'm good, just. Give me a minute."

Rod pulled on his sneakers. He found Ronon waiting in the gym five minutes later, and caught himself doing what he'd been doing since he came back, mentally comparing one reality against the other.

He hadn't been lying when he'd told Bizarro Sheppard that their Ronons seemed the same. Granted, Bizarro Ronon had never sneaked into Rod's lab, asking scattered and random physics questions for no reason that was immediately discernible. And Rod had never heard from Bizarro Zelenka, weeks later, that Bizarro John had missed three MENSA meetings in a month, but beyond that?

"Why do you like John?" he found himself asking, only realizing how ridiculous it sounded once Ronon was smirking at him over his twirling bantos sticks. "Wait. _No_ , I don't want details or anything, but what was it that, you know...?"

"Why?"

Rod finished stretching and moved into a defensive position on the mat, as Ronon was already starting to circle around. "Just trying to get some things straightened out in my head. About the last few days."

Three attacks blocked, albeit sloppily, before the fourth took him down. "I mean, was it his brains?" he asked, picking himself up off the mat.

"Dunno,' Ronon answered, after letting him come at him once and blocking him too damned easily with that left shoulder move that Rod would never figure out if they worked on it for years. "I guess it was," he spun back into position. "Out in the field. When he'd start talking about numbers."

"Really?" The disbelief in his voice must have been evident, because Ronon shrugged, looking like he was giving his next words some thought.

"Yeah. Like. Didn't know what he was talking about, but. Just the fact that he was talking. It was relaxing."

"Seriously?"

Ronon nodded again, but didn't quite meet his eyes, and McKay got the sense that they were heading into _runner territory_. It wasn't something Ronon liked to talk about, much, but today, apparently, was different. "Took some getting used to, but. Before. Didn't get to hear people talk, much, so..." he lunged left, but Rod caught himself before he followed through and managed to keep from going down, if barely. "After that, it all just sort of happened."

"Just like that, huh?"

"More or less."

"Huh," McKay said, and apparently, the conversation was over, for now.

"So what else was different?"

"Oh. Well, Bizarro _Elizabeth_..."

\---

It was late, _too_ late, but he'd finally finished his report for Dr. Wallace but he'd noticed the lights in her office above the gate room, and, as he'd expected, found her working late as well.

"Is there anything else you need?" Elizabeth asked, once he'd handed it over. "Are you sure you don't want to take a few days?"

"What, and give John even _more_ of a head start on the ZedPM streamlining project than he already has?"

She nodded to hide her grin. "Well, far be it from me to stand in the way of brilliant science, or negatively affect any results-based wagers that I probably should not know about in the first place." Standing, she continued. "So I'll leave you to it. I myself am going to turn in." She paused as she reached to shut her computer down. "Which reminds me- you missed mail call, there's a letter from Jeannie, it should be in your inbox."

\---

The envelope waiting for him had rerouted him back in the general direction of his lab, and he was just exiting the transporter when he heard a familiar voice echo from the other direction, coming down the hall.

"..but if you were to let Grodin reroute the power from the energy cell back through the _auxiliary_ circuit he's worked out," John was saying, "it would hold a charge nearly _seventeen_ percent longer, and-"

"I'm not letting Grodin, or _any_ of you geeks, anywhere _near_ my gun. Now come on. _Bed_ ," Ronon replied. His hands were wrapped around John's shoulders as he steered him around the corner.

John didn't notice McKay standing there, he was too busy twisting his head back to point out that he could get at least one hundred and seventy three more shots off before having to set it to recharge, but Ronon spotted him right away, rolling bleary and beleaguered eyes as he shoved John into the transporter.

"In the _morning_ , John. We'll talk about it then."

\--- 

The End  



End file.
